Trigger
by thechosenpen
Summary: Madison is the black sheep of the Cooper family, but when she heard Jason Blossom's plans for July 4th, she couldn't do nothing. What happened next is a mystery to everyone including Madison. She came to her senses a week later in the woods covered in blood, with no memory of what happened. How long until Madison's memories return? And what will she remember?
1. Prologue: Red

Memories are a funny thing. People put a lot of weight into them. But they are inherently unreliable.

Memories can _mislead_ you.

They can shape themselves into a distorted version of reality. Twisting facts. Warping conversations. Reconfiguring the way you spoke. Shifting the way someone looked at you. Memories bending and buckling themselves until your recollection of an event was so far from another that you were left wondering the truth. Doubting yourself. Doubting your own experience. Did you start the argument? Or did he? Did you pick up the gun first? Or did someone else get to it before you could?

 _"Please Madison. You don't understand. I can explain!"_

 _"There's nothing to explain. I know what you're doing. I know what you did, Jason. I know."_

 _"Well you know there's nothing you can do about it then. It's already done."_

 _"You clearly don't know me at all. I'm not like my sisters. I don't like to play nice."_

Memories can _lie_ to you.

They are inherently biased. They shift and replace facts to hide the ugly parts. They conceal aspects of themselves to protect you, or trick you. They convince you that someone definitely looked at you strangely. They convince you that you heard footsteps behind you. They assure you that the shadow in the corner of your eye was someone waiting to strike. They confirm that you were protecting yourself. That you were acting in self defence. But what if you weren't?

 _"Don't do this. You don't want to hurt anybody."_

 _"There isn't any other way. Not anymore."_

 _"Please, don't pull that trigger. We both know you'll regret it the moment you do."_

 _"Only one way to find out."_

Sometimes memories can _hide_ from you.

They don't disappear completely. But they try. They creep back into the shadows of your mind, the dark corners you don't notice. The memories fold in themselves, avoiding your gaze no matter how hard you try to lure them back out. They stay hidden, until you think they are gone for good. Until an entire part of your life is left a mystery. Were you even at the scene of the crime? If you weren't, then where were you?

 _"Where were you that day? You need to tell the truth, Maddy."_

 _"I don't know. I don't remember."_

 _"Well what do you remember from that day? Anything at all."_

 _"I remember red."_

 _"Red? Red what? Blood? Hair?"_

 _"Just red."_

But nothing can truely stay _hidden_ forever.

At least that was what Madison Cooper told herself. As she found her way through the fog of her mind, as she stumbled through the woods that should have felt familiar but instead felt terrifyingly unknown, she knew one thing. She had to remember. She needed to remember. She needed to know what really happened.

She needed to know how her hands got so blood stained. And whose blood it was.

She needed her memories back.

* * *

A/N: Hey folks I'm here with my first Riverdale story because I cannot control myself! I'm really excited to share Madison's journey with you all and I hope this tiny teaser prologue gets you intrigued! I'll have another update of TMD up soon but in the meantime hopefully this will satisfy you all for now. Feel free to fave/follow to keep updated on the next chapter and any reviews are much appreciated! Also remember to check out my tumblr (fraysquake) for any Trigger/Madison edits and sneak peaks :) xo


	2. Chapter 1: Daze

Madison didn't know how long she'd been walking.

The minutes all seemed to blur together. Minutes. Hours. Days? She wasn't sure. Couldn't be certain. She just walked, her brain lost in a blank trance, her body running on some kind of survivalist autopilot mode. Was she high? No. This wasn't like some kind of acid trip, or a stoned high. She'd had plenty of those. Madison recognised that feeling well by now. But that was not right. There was no bliss. No feeling of transcendence. Just emptiness.

She thought she might be drunk, but that didn't capture the feeling accurately either.

Her vision felt blurry, out of focus, but that was not alcohol induced. It was just stuck. Like her brain had reached some kind of error, and it couldn't quite reboot. Like her eyes were too busy erasing another line of vision and got stuck before they could return to reality. This was not the feeling of being drunk. There was no sense of lost inhibitions. No wild desires leaping out of her bones.

Just a violent and terrifyingly blank daze.

She didn't know where she was.

She didn't know where she was going.

She just knew she needed to get home. Where was home? Did she have a home? How did she get home? Madison wasn't really sure, and she wasn't quite attached to reality enough to care about the long list of unanswered questions. There were too many unknown variables with no beginnings or ending. Too many thoughts she couldn't fully string together. So she kept walking, taking in the feeling of her feet moving one step at a time. Taking in the way her shorts chafed slightly against her thighs as she walked, the denim material moving stiffly against her body where the blood had left dark stains.

Most of the blood had dried by now.

She wasn't even sure how much of it was hers anymore. But if it wasn't her blood that meant it was someone else and she had no idea who. She didn't know how it got there, or how long she'd been covered in it. Long enough for it to harden, cracking slightly on her skin, stiffening her white t-shirt. The blood on her hands felt strange. It itched. It wanted to erase itself but she was too dazed to form the notion of removing it. There was no panic. Not really. She probably needed to panic, but she was past that point now.

She kept walking.

Dazed.

Blurred.

Lost.

Her mind seemed to clear a little around the same time that the trees parted ahead of her, revealing the road ahead, a road almost completely baron except for the old green car slowing down beside her, a small creak coming from the window of the driver's seat as it rolled down at the same time that the car came to a halt beside her.

"Hey Miss, you alright?" You look like you…Madison?"

The sound of her own name jolted something in Madison, her entire body coming to a halt on the side of the road.

She blinked.

Once.

Twice.

A third time, just to clear her vision a little more.

It was almost like coming down from a high, her brain slowly catching up to her surroundings. But something was a little off. Inhaling, she felt her breath catch as she lifted her blue eyes to lock onto the familiar face in front of her. There was something wrong, like her brain hadn't quite cleared enough to put a name to the face. But she recognised it. Him. A man. A familiar man. Looking at her with a lot of worry. Concern.

"Hi Dad." Madison managed to speak after a moment, her voice hoarser than anticipated. Whether it was from lack of use or excessive screaming, she couldn't remember.

Hal Cooper stared back at his daughter, eyes wide. His gaze was flickering, as if he didn't know what to look at first, darting his eyes up and down Madison's lean frame.

"Madison, what happened? We've been trying to get in touch with you all week and you…What happened to you…" he trailed off as he finally climbed out of the car. He was moving slowly, like he was trying not to scare off an injured animal. Maybe she was the injured animal. That would explain the blood.

The blood.

Madison stared down at her hands, reality hitting her like a ton of bricks, slamming into her body and sending a horrific shockwave through her bones and deep into her chest. She was covered in blood. And she was in the middle of the woods. And she couldn't think of a single thing that caused any of it. No memory of how she'd ended up here.

"I- I don't remember." Madison stared, as her hands clenched and unclenched. "I don't. I can't. I-" She felt her heart constricting in her chest, the panic beginning to sink in as tears sprung to her eyes. She stared up at Hal, eyes wide with terror. "Daddy?"

"Hey, it's going to be okay, sweetie. You're going to be okay. I've got you. You'll be okay," Hal repeated as he stepped forward, embracing her in a tight hug, so unfamiliar and familiar all at once. Madison let her body take in a deep breath of air, her arms stiff by her side for a moment before reaching up to cling to her father, reality slowly washing itself over her.

"I don't remember. I don't remember anything. I don't remember," Madison whispered over and over again, her eyes wide as she stared over her father's shoulder back into the woods. Part of her wanted to close her eyes but something inside told her she might see something in the back of her eyelids that she'd rather forget.

* * *

 _Two months later…_

"Madison? What are you doing here?"

"Doing a drug run for Poppa Tate," Madison replied drily as she attempted to walk past her younger sister, rolling her eyes. She hadn't realised Betty would be at Pop's Chock'lit Shoppe diner, although it wasn't like there were many other places in Riverdale for someone as sugar-sweet like Betty to hang out.

Betty, unsurprisingly, was unamused by Madison's use of witty humour. She huffed a little in that classic Betty-way, her eyes widening slightly as the puff of air left her pursed lips, perky ponytail waving slightly as she shifted her weight across her feet. "Seriously, Maddy."

"I'm hungry. I'm buying a burger." Madison shrugged her shoulders. "What are you doing here?" She'd almost forgotten that Betty was even home, finally back from her internship, but then again Madison was barely home herself so she hadn't noticed the extra body back in the house. Madison preferred to spend her spare time as far away from the Cooper household as possible, although it had been particularly hard this summer given the events that had occurred.

Betty seemed slightly tense, more than she usually was around her sister. Her eyes kept flickering towards the door, like she was waiting for someone. "I'm meeting Archie here." Ah, well that explained it. She was probably planning to spill her heart out to Archie, which would explain why she seemed more anxious than usual. Yawn. "I haven't spoken to him since I got back from my internship. Can you just hurry up before you ruin it?"

Madison folded her arms across her chest, raising an eyebrow at her sister. "Ruin what? Let me guess, your grand plan to declare your love for Golden Boy? Why would I ever do such a thing?"

"I don't know," Betty said shortly, pursing her lips. "But that is your speciality. Ruining things."

"Wow, looks like that LA internship gave you some sass, sis. Better not let Mom hear you talking like that. Wouldn't want to tarnish your perfect persona." Madison smirked at Betty, inwardly relishing the way her comment clearly irritated Betty who was already fumbling for another comeback.

"Betty, sorry I'm late…" Both girls whipped their heads in unison as a familiar voice rang out from behind them, Archie's sweet tone well known to them both. He had just entered Pop's, one hand still holding the door open as he walked in, his eyes widening slightly as he took in the two Cooper sisters.

"Madison, hi." He stared at Madison, eyes widening a little. He seemed a little thrown off suddenly, like her presence had startled him.

"Andrews," Madison said shortly, raising an eyebrow slightly at him.

"Hey Betty, why don't you grab us a table?" Archie said, his voice softening slightly as he leaned closer to Betty for a moment, indicating towards a booth near the back of the diner. "I'll grab us some food."

Betty nodded quickly, eyes narrowing towards Madison briefly before turning on her heels, leaving Archie alone with Madison. There was an awkward silence, brief and tense as Archie frowned down at the blonde in front of him.

"Well I'd better get my burger," Madison said brushing past Archie and heading towards the counter. "Hey Pop! Same as always, thanks. And throw in some extra onion."

Pop Tate knew her order well enough by now that he didn't need to ask any further questions, the perk of spending half of her life in this diner. He nodded, giving her a friendly wink as he took her money and headed into the kitchen to prepare her meal.

"Are we seriously not going to talk about it?" Archie suddenly asked, his voice hushed as he spoke from behind Madison, his breath tickling her neck slightly.

Madison felt her body slowly coming to a halt, a slow icy feeling seeping through her veins as she rested a hand on the counter, eyes focusing on her chipped red nail polish. She'd gone all summer managing to successfully avoid any discussions like this. She didn't need to ruin that streak now. "Talk about what?" she asked, forcing a fake lightness into her tone.

Archie didn't relent though. "You know what. Fourth of July. The river." he pressed, his voice shifting something in Madison as she turned her head slightly to meet his urgent gaze. They locked eyes, Archie clearly seeking some kind of confirmation from her, but Madison refused to give in. Instead, she kept her face neutral, lips slightly pursed as she looked back at him.

"I have no idea what you're on about, Arch," Madison finally replied, running a hand through her dirtied blonde hair and tugging sightly at the knots. "You should hurry up and order. Betty won't wait forever." Without waiting for Archie's defeated sigh, Madison pushed past him, her shoulder knocking against his slightly and causing him to take half a step backwards.

Madison wasn't exactly sure what Archie was trying to do, honestly. What kind of answers was he looking for in the middle of Pop's diner? It was definitely nothing she could answer. She didn't have any answers. Not even for herself. The last thing she needed was someone else prying into her mind, something she hadn't even dared to do since that fateful day.

Shaking off the unsettled nerves in her bones, Madison made her way towards the other side of the diner, her black boots clacking against the tiled floor as she walked. She glanced over to where Betty was watching Archie, a mixture of uncertainty and pining in her eyes.

"Do I want to know, Coop?"

Madison shifted her gaze from Betty and over to the booth she was heading towards, a sly smirk slipping up her lips as she finally reached it. Jughead Jones, one of her closest friends and one of the only people who could be found at Pop's as much as Madison, was sitting in his usual booth. As always, his laptop was open, its bright light reflecting against his face as he raised an eyebrow up at Madison.

"Nothing to know, Jugs. Just saying hello to Riverdale's Golden Duo," Madison shrugged as she slipped into the seat opposite him, leaning against the wall of the diner as she lifted her legs up onto the seat, stretching out comfortably.

Jughead offered a lazy grin towards her. "If they're the Golden Duo what does that make us?"

"The Black Sheep? Dark horses? Riverdale's Hot Messes? Shit, I don't know. We're definitely not golden though," Madison quipped, reaching over to grab a fry from Jughead's overflowing plate. "How's the novel going?"

Jughead sighed, pulling his gaze back to his laptop again, squinting a little at the screen. "It's a work in progress," he said, his focus already half a mile away as he started rereading his work.

Madison nodded slowly, well aware that Jughead probably wouldn't respond to anything she said for the next half hour as he lost himself in his writing.

It was a comfortable silence, as it always was between them. They'd fallen into a nice pattern over the summer, Jughead writing his novel about the messed up town of Riverdale while Madison ate her burgers. She was usually slightly stoned and craving some munchies, but sometimes she was just content sitting opposite Jughead, watching the people coming in and out. Nothing really happened in here, but it was better than being alone with the mess of her own mind, full of blank spots and vague recollections of violent screams. And it was ten times better than being at home.

As Jughead typed away, Madison gazed around the diner, offering Pop up a grin as he headed over with her burger, sliding onto the table. She'd barely begun to dig in when the door to the diner opened, letting off a gentle jingle as the new customer ducked inside. It was a girl wearing a long black cape, looking far more glamorous than anyone wearing a cape should look. She had dark hair and dark eyes to match, and she was definitely not a Riverdale native.

Madison watched, intrigued, as the girl made a beeline for Pop who was still heading back to the counter after delivering Madison's big fat burger.

"I called in an order for Lodge," the girl said, her voice ringing out in the quiet diner. She had an aura of confidence about her, her accent crisp and direct as she came to a halt directly in front of Archie and Betty's booth. Madison couldn't see Archie's face but he was clearly staring up at the new girl, probably with some horny expression judging by the way Betty was now glaring at him.

The girl spoke to Archie and Betty for a few moments, a coy smirk sitting comfortably on her lips as she kept her eyes locked on Archie's while Madison watched the steam slowly seeping out of Betty's ears. Madison caught a few bits of the conversation, catching the girl's name, Veronica, who was apparently transferring to Riverdale High. She'd clearly shaken up something between Archie and Betty, even more than Madison had earlier which was certainly an impressive feat.

Finally Pop called out Veronica's order and she twirled around lightly on her heels, marching back out the door with a paper bag in hand and a satisfied expression on her lips. This girl was definitely trouble.

"Well tomorrow's going to be a shit show," Madison mused aloud, watching as Veronica exited the diner, taking in the way the room fell into a dull silence in her immediate absence.

"You're telling me," Jughead quipped back, his eyes following Veronica out the door. He glanced back at Madison, hands already hovering over his keyboard again. "If you want to keep pissing off your sister, looks like you've got some competition."

"Ugh, this is already too much drama. I need a smoke," Madison sighed, shuffling back out of the booth as she dug a cigarette out of her pocket. She wasn't sure why she had an odd feeling now, but it was there regardless. Still, maybe that was just the blank space in her memory nudging itself closer to the front again, reminding her of the large gap in her brain. Reminding her of the dark events she couldn't quite see. Looming, dark and tense.

Yeah, she really needed a smoke.

* * *

 **A/N: Hello folks I'm back already with the first chapter! I hope you enjoyed this as we start to see more of Madison and how she fits into Riverdale! This was just a little chance to meet some more characters but you'll learn much more about Madison's messy memories soon! She's definitely putting up a front but Archie has questions and she'll have to answer them eventually! Feel free to let me know your thoughts on this chapter and any theories you might have already. Reviews are always appreciated! Thanks for reading lovelies :) x**


	3. Chapter 2: Lies

The benefit of the Cooper's grand house, besides the large trees providing an easy escape route when necessary, was that Madison's bedroom was directly across the hall from Betty's, which was occasionally a pain when Madison was forced to turn down her music, but it came in handy when she felt like eavesdropping on her baby sister. She didn't do it very often since it was rare for Betty to talk about anything worth eavesdropping, but every now and then Madison overheard the perfect material for blackmail.

As Madison swiped some dark plum lipstick across her lips, her hair already tugged into a messy topknot that she hadn't bothered to redo from last night, she glanced away from her mirror, leaning across slightly to catch the word floating across the hallway.

"Betty, this coming year is critical for colleges. Grades are important, extracurriculars, athletics. Maintaining a decent character is hugely important, they do look at that," Alice Cooper's voice travelled down the hallway, her tone insistent as she preached to Betty as if Betty hadn't been telling herself the same thing all summer. The classic back-to-school lecture, Mama Cooper style.

"Mom, I'm a sophomore," Betty's voice replied drily, clearly as bored with the lecture as Madison was hearing it again. Madison had heard a similar version of this lecture herself a year ago, except their mother had been much more insistent on the good behaviour, as useless as it had been.

Alice Cooper wasn't finished though, her voice getting a little more pushy while Madison rolled her eyes, pushing herself up from her unmade bed to go snoop properly. "You've accomplished so much, I don't want anything jeopardising that. I mean, just think of your poor sister."

"Oooh, which one?" Madison interrupted, bumping her hip against Betty's bedroom door to push it open a little more, revealing herself to the other two. "The hot mess you sent away or the delinquent you can't get rid of?"

She raised a playful eyebrow, the smirk slipping up her lips as her mother let out a frustrated sigh. Madison wasn't sure if the sigh was because of her witty comment or because Alice Cooper had just noticed Madison's slightly skimpy outfit, her crop top showing off her belly button as her black leggings hugged at her lower half tightly.

"Didn't hear you knock," Betty said quietly, half under her breath as she turned away from Madison to check her makeup again.

"Good because if you did I'd tell you that you were hearing things and you'd be following Polly straight to the madhouse," Madison shot back, folding her arms across her chest as she watched Betty huffing around the bedroom, stuffing her books into her backpack with much more aggression than the books deserved.

"Girls!" Alice cut off her daughters before the bickering could spill into a war before anyone had even had a proper cup of coffee. "I just…I just mean…Polly was such a shining star before she let that Blossom boy ruin her."

Betty stopped in her tracks to look at her mother, her gaze softening slightly at the mention of the eldest Cooper girl. "Mom, I'm not Polly," she said gently.

Madison was less affected, pushing past Betty to sink into the seat in front of the vanity, examining her make up in the mirror as her fingers toyed with Betty's excessive collection of pink lipsticks. God, could she be any more predictable? Madison picked up the eyeshadow palate sitting on a pile of textbooks, swiping her finger across the deep red shade that looked complete unused. "And we know you wish you were me, but alas. Only room in this house for one Cooper disappointment at a time. Daddy's rules," Madison remarked as she applied the shadow to her own eyelids.

"Madison," Alice's tone sharpened slightly as she raised a carefully shaped eyebrow at her daughter. "That's enough." Her voice held a deeper warning to it as she spoke, her pointed look suggesting a hidden meaning that Madison couldn't be bothered figuring out right now.

"Whatever," Madison sighed, suddenly bored with the entire interaction as she dropped the eyeshadow palate back onto the vanity table with a clatter as Betty marched over to snatch the textbooks, offering a glare to Madison as she did so. Betty adjusted the palate's placement on the vanity, moving it back into its proper place as she looked pointedly at Madison. With a sigh of false defeat, Madison slid off the chair, sauntering back out of Betty's room and ducking into her own room to grab her half empty backpack before heading down into the kitchen where Hal Cooper was sitting at the table, coffee in one hand and newspaper in the other.

"Sup," Madison said to her father, stealing a sip of his coffee before he could protest. "Ugh, how many sugars do you need?" she asked as the sweet taste overpowered her taste buds momentarily.

"As many as I need to get you to make your own coffee," Hal remarked, barely looking up from the newspaper as he took the coffee mug back from her.

Madison sighed, moving over to the coffee machine reluctantly. "Rude," she huffed as she leaned against the kitchen counter and waited for the machine to churn out a cup of strong caffeine to get her through the day.

"Now, Madison…" Hal put down the paper after a moment, folding his hands together as he looked up at Madison. "Remember what we talked about." His voice was suddenly a little more serious, reflecting the warning in Alice's voice only moments ago.

Madison glanced at her father for a moment before pointedly turning away to pour her coffee. "I know," she said back quickly. "I remember that."

"Tell me. Repeat it back."

"I spent the fourth of July out of town. I was over in Greendale partying," Madison recited back, staring at the dark pool of coffee in her mug, watching the steam flowing upwards. "I stayed in Greendale for half the summer break just partying. That's all."

Lies, lies and more lies.

The lies fell from her lips easily, just as they had over the last week every time her father drilled her, reminding her of the story she was to tell if anyone asked. Greendale. Partying. A normal summer break. The same story she'd spent the second half of summer telling everyone else. The story Betty believed to be true. The story her mother was insistent on believing, as much as she knew it to be a lie.

Alice had been home when Hal brought Madison home on the 11th of July. She had spent half of the next day getting rid of the blood stains in Madison's clothes, searching the trembling girl's body for any sign of injury, for an explanation to the amount of blood, washing Madison's hair again and again until the red tint had finally been erased from her dirty blonde hair. Alice had sat there in horror, watching as Hal did his best to pull any memories from Madison's mind, but the middle Cooper child only had one thing to say, again and again. Red.

 _Red, red, red_.

All she remembered was red. Flashes of red.

Red staining her clothes, red staining her mind.

"Madison." Hal's voice was sharp, pulling Madison out of her distorted pile of memories again. Madison jumped slightly, shaking her head slightly as her coffee swished dangerously in the mug, her grip tightening on it as she looked up at her father, tugging a convincing smirk onto her lips again.

"I was in Greendale, partying," she repeated firmly. "That's all."

Hal nodded slowly, lifting his coffee mug to his lips to take a sip. "Good girl," he said as he lowered the mug again, his eyes dropping back to the newspaper, a sign that his interrogation had ended.

* * *

Madison had almost forgotten how irritating she found school until she was forced to enter the school property again, almost immediately thrown into a mess of chaos with students all rushing around, yelling and hollering at each other as if they hadn't spent the last few months getting drunk together. It was a bizarre ritual that Madison might have enjoyed more if she had her usual group but that was what she got for being stuck on the North side of town while the rest of her friends took over Southside High without her.

 _S.O.S ALREADY BORED HERE. READY TO BAIL? - J_

Speaking of Southside friends, Madison glanced at her phone as it buzzed, her eyes rolling as she read over the text that was currently hovering on her screen. Joaquin DeSantos, one of Madison's closest friends and one of the many Southsiders who had been kind enough to welcome her into the crew despite her surname. She'd certainly earned her place amongst the troublemakers of Riverdale over the last year, especially recently when she'd solidified her role as the wild party animal in the Southside crowd and finally managed to out-drink Joaquin. The two of them had agreed to get through the first day of school before they ruined their reputations, particularly Madison who had Betty's good attitude to compete with. All of the teachers of Riverdale High were well aware that Madison was nothing like her two sisters but they certainly tried to change that. It was hopeless though, especially when Madison had bad influences like Joaquin encouraging her to skip out on school before first period even began.

She quickly swiped her thumb across the screen, unlocking the phone as she walked through the corridors of Riverdale High School, ignoring the bustle of students all pushing past, all too keen to make a decent impression on the first day back. As much as Madison wanted to march out of the school building right now, she knew she needed to get through just half a day. Half a day and then she could at least tell her father that she'd tried. If she cut school too early she'd have no grounds to argue on.

 _LOSER. COME GET ME AT LUNCH. U BETTER BRING THE GOODS! - M_

She quickly typed out the reply to Joaquin. He didn't reply, but Madison knew he'd follow through just as he always did, acting as her dealer whenever necessary. Lord knows Madison would need a shot of vodka or a hit of _something_ if she was going to maintain what was left of her sanity surrounded by the idiots of Riverdale High. After hitting send, Madison slipped her phone back down her top, tucking it into her bra discreetly but not discreetly enough to be missed by Reggie Mantle who whistled as Madison brushed past him. He was leaning against a locker beside Archie, and while Archie seemed to be intent on ignoring Madison, Reggie was more than willing to leer her way.

"Looking good, Coops," he hollered, throwing a wink at her as she glanced back at him, her eyes flickering across to Archie briefly before lingering back on Reggie when it was clear Archie didn't want to look at her. Reggie's eyes were glued to her chest without a hint of shame and Madison couldn't help smirking as she pushed her chest out a little more, watching as Reggie's eyes widened at the movement. He was so predictable, just like every other boy in this school.

"Only for you, Mantle," she called back, turning away again with full knowledge that Reggie would be staring directly at her arse now. Something about Archie's attitude irked her a little, the way his eyes stayed glued to his locker the moment she appeared. In the back of Madison's mind she couldn't help replaying his words at the diner the night before.

 _"You know what. Fourth of July. The river."_

Archie knew. He knew about the river. Not even Madison knew what happened, not really. She hadn't even known she'd been at the river that day until Archie brought it up. But Archie knew something. He had a piece of her missing memory.

Part of Madison was curious, dying to put the puzzles of her muddled brain together, but a much bigger part of her knew that there was a reason she'd blocked the actual events of July fourth from her mind. She didn't need to put the pieces together to know that the blood on her hands wasn't her own. The only question was if it wasn't her blood, then whose was it?

As Madison wandered through the hallway, the school secretary's voice rang out through the corridors over the loud speaker suddenly, causing all students to halt their boring conversations, all freezing momentarily to listen.

"ATTENTION ALL STUDENTS, A REMINDER THAT YOU ARE ALL REQUIRED TO ATTEND THIS MORNING'S ASSEMBLY WHERE WE ARE HOLDING A BRIEF MEMORIAL FOR JASON BLOSSOM."

* * *

 **A/N: Hey friends! Thank you so much to everyone who left reviews on the first few chapters and I'm sorry this took so long! My muse was a little rusty for a while there but I am definitely still excited to share Madison's story with you all! This was a bit of a short chapter but I wanted to give you all a little look at the Cooper household before we delve into the mystery too much! It's all coming though, don't you worry! Please feel free to leave a review and let me know your thoughts so far! Thanks again for reading! xo**


	4. Chapter 3: Blur

By the time everyone filed into the assembly hall, Madison's caffeine hit was already wearing off, adding to the frustration of being surrounded by the other noisy students. She managed to sink into a seat beside Jughead who was slouched down, almost hidden from sight. Just as he liked it.

"Many of you were lucky enough to know my brother personally," Cheryl Blossom began to speak, slowly and solemnly as she stared down each student from underneath the melodramatic black veil that hovered just over her face.

"You mean unlucky," Jughead muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Madison to hear. Madison snorted quietly, ignoring the glances from the row of freshmen in front of them. They all looked a little too sad for students who had probably never heard of Jason Blossom until today. They had no idea of the kind of family the Blossoms really were. They had no idea of the kind of misery Jason and Cheryl left in their paths. Madison pulled her gaze reluctantly back over to Cheryl, her eyes glazing over briefly as she took in Cheryl's red hair cascading over her shoulders. Suddenly the red tinge made Madison's stomach feel a little queasy, her heart thudding in her chest unexpectedly as she took in a sharp breath.

"You okay?" Jughead whispered, glancing down at Madison's hands which had somehow ended up in two tight fists in her lap.

Madison unclenched them, letting out a breath as she nodded. "Yeah, just trying not to hurl over this sickly sweet ceremony," she replied, swallowing thickly and thanking the stars that Jughead didn't push the issue further, pulling his focus back to Cheryl's speech. Madison wasn't sure what elicited that reaction in her stomach, her mind going fuzzy as if someone had messed with the signal momentarily. Whatever it was, luckily it passed as she refocused on Cheryl's over-dramatic speech.

"Jason wouldn't want us to spend the year mourning. Jason would want us to move on with our lives…" Cheryl continued, her eyes scanning over the crowd. "Which is why I've asked the school board not to cancel the back to school semi-formal. But rather to let us use it as way to heal, collectively."

Madison rolled her eyes as the rest of the students burst into obligatory applause. "I need to go vomit," she said drily, only half under her breath as Jughead let out a breath of laughter beside her.

The rest of the students were starting to get up once the principal gave a small nod to indicate the end of assembly and Madison let out a bored huff, jogging down the steps as Jughead moved smoothly behind her, one hand resting on his laptop bag. "Come on Mads, you can go vomit in Cheryl's face at the dance," he remarked as they weaved their way through the mass of students filing out.

"Gag, no thanks. I don't need to spend any more time with these demons than necessary," Madison shot back over her shoulder as she reached her locker, smirking as Jughead rolled his eyes, already moving past her to head to his first class.

* * *

The rest of the day floated by like a blur of motion with Madison barely paying attention to her surroundings. She managed to sit through all of her classes although she only retained five percent of anything the teachers were saying.

By the time Madison got home, she was well overdue for some kind of substance abuse, her brain no longer caring what it was. Luckily she still had a few joints still tucked in her underwear drawer and as soon as it was clear that her father had no interest in checking in with her today, she quickly closed the bedroom door, moving easily through the familiar routine she'd perfected over the last few months, carefully popping the window open and setting up her little nook to smoke comfortably.

Madison frowned as the sound of a sickly sweet pop song blasted from across the corridor from Betty's room. She hadn't even realised Betty was home until the music started blaring at a volume much louder than usual, a hint that Betty was in a good mood for some unknown reason that Madison truely couldn't care less about. Still, the pot floating around in her brain sparked up the possibility of investigating, if purely to make a snide remark to bring her sister down to earth again. Madison waited a beat, listening as she heard a few thuds until finally her curiosity got the better of her, reluctantly putting out her joint before dragging her body out of her bedroom and into Betty's doorway where she found her jaw dropping of its own accord.

"You are so dead," Madison remarked dryly over the music as she waltzed into Betty's room, eyeing up Betty's new fashion choice, a perky blue Cheerleading uniform that practically screamed 'MAKE ME POPULAR' with the white turtleneck style top tucked into her pleated skirt as she bounced around the bedroom. Betty barely even battered an eyelash at Madison's comment though. Instead, she just bopped around Madison, flicking her sister's as she danced past her. The amount of pep in her step was somehow more annoying than usual and Madison rolled her eyes, flopping onto Betty's bed with a huff.

She watched as Betty continued to bounce around the room, flashing a beam towards Madison a few times, seeming not to care that Madison was 'invading her privacy'. It was almost amusing and as Madison watched, her brain already fairly fried from the pot, she had to crack a smile, tilting her head lazily to the music.

The sisterly bonding session party was abruptly cut off without warning, and Madison felt a smirk sliding up her lips as she spotted their mother standing at the door, one finger pressed on the stereo as she swiftly turned the music off.

"What is that?" Alice asked curtly, nodding towards Betty's new attire. She didn't even seem to notice Madison's stoned appearance on the bed and Madison vaguely reminded herself to thank Betty for the distraction later on.

"I made the cheerleading squad." Betty sounded a little deflated as she looked at Alice's disapproving expression and Madison rolled her eyes. Betty was such a suck up to their parents, even one hint of disapproval and she caved in.

"Cheryl Blossom's squad? After what Jason did to Polly?" Alice stared at Betty as she moved into the bedroom, her eyes only briefly flickering across to where Madison was flopped across the bed. "No I'm sorry I won't allow it. Take that off right now," she demanded, holding a hand out to indicate towards the uniform, if you could even call a short skirt a uniform.

"See, Mom thinks you look ridiculous too," Madison said with a snicker which Betty wisely ignored.

"No." Betty said firmly, jutting her chin forward slightly towards her mother.

Alice seemed as stunned as Madison at Betty's unexpected defiance. "What did you say to me?"

Betty wasn't finished though. "I do everything for everyone. _Everything_ ," she emphasised as she stepped closer to her mother, hands on her hips as if to hold the uniform down on her body. "To be perfect. The perfect daughter, the perfect sister-"

"Correction, you are a terrible sister. You still won't let me steal your new make up brushes," Madison interjected, pursing her lips in mock annoyance. Betty paused in her rant to glare at Madison but she was clearly too riled up at her mother to comment at all.

"Can't I do this one thing for me?" Betty turned back to Alice, gesturing wildly in the air as she pushed past her and moved towards the doorway.

"Where are you going?" Alice asked loudly, a warning in her tone.

Betty flipped her head around, ponytail swaying dangerously as she turned to stare at her mother again. "To buy a dress. Because I'm going to the dance with Archie. And Veronica."

"Hermione Lodge's daughter?" Alice seemed more annoyed at the name of the new girl than anything else and Madison let out a sigh as she let her head drop back onto the mass of pillows, bored with the conversation now.

Betty stood her ground though. "She's actually really nice and trying to be a good person."

"You think so?" You think she's going to be your friend? Girls like Cheryl and Veronica Lodge, they don't like girls like us-"

"-I don't want to hear it Mom," Betty interrupted her mother's rant. "I'm going."

Madison watched with a raised eyebrow as Betty strutted out of the room with an uncharacteristically high level of sass.

"Wow, now you've got three disappointments. Great parenting, Mom," Madison drawled after a beat, sitting up slightly as she watched her mother, Alice's eyes still gazing after Betty.

Alice let out a long suffering sigh as she turned back to Madison, finally giving her a proper disapproving stare as she took in Madison's bloodshot eyes. "Don't get me started, Madison," she said, pinching her nose in frustration. "You're practically reeking of marijuana."

"No, not practically. I definitely am," Madison corrected, swinging her legs back over the bed and hauling her body back up to a standing position.

"Are you trying to get yourself grounded?" Alice asked in exasperation, glaring at Madison, her arms folded tightly across her chest.

Madison swayed for a moment, contemplating the possibility of that suggestion. Her brain had a hundred thoughts floating through, a dozen ways to get herself grounded and another dozen reasons why that was a stupid idea.

Finally she gave a casual shrug as she brushed past her mother and moved through the doorway. "Nope, just making the kind of observation that would make my reporter mother proud," she replied over her shoulder, smirking at her mother before disappearing back into her bedroom and letting the door swing shut before Alice could start on yet another lecture.

* * *

While Betty Cooper was off dancing three feet apart from Archie Andrews at the semi-formal and squirming under the pressure of spin-the-bottle, Madison found herself at her old spot by the river with the usual Southside crowd, Serpent jackets all slung off as they relaxed. Madison didn't have her own Serpent jacket having been advised not to complete initiation especially if she was still very much living on the Northside. She was only only Northside there which would have made anyone else feel uncomfortable and a little on edge, but she was close enough to everyone now that any suspicions had long worn off, jacket or not. Instead she was almost hailed with cheers as she unloaded the pile of weed she'd managed to get at a reasonable price from Reggie Mantle on her way over to the river.

Within a few minutes the group was all lounging around the small clearing of trees, Madison sitting comfortably with one of the few female Serpents, Toni Topaz, lying with her head in Madison's lap. It was a comfortable atmosphere, everyone passing a few bottles of vodka and gin around, the conversation mostly surrounding the dullness of school life once more as they all complained about the loads of homework were none of them were actually planning on completing.

"So where's your preppy sister tonight, Mads?" Sweet Pea asked from across the small circle, his dark hair hanging in his eyes as he looked over at her with a cheeky grin. Sweet Pea was one of the more boisterous Serpents, especially tonight since he was still waiting for the vodka to sink into his bloodstream, his eyes wide and alert.

"Why? You eyeing off my sister, Sweet Pea?" Madison asked with a snort as she reached across Joaquin to grab the bottle of vodka from his other side. "You'd make a great pair," she joked, taking a swig of the vodka and inwardly cheering as she held back any instinct to wince at the taste.

Toni let out a crackle from down in Madison's lap, eyes crinkling with glee at Madison's comment. "My god, imagine that. Sweet Pea wooing Pretty Little Perfect," she giggled. "Your mother would drop dead."

"Nah, if she survived my sister Polly's Blossom scandal, she can survive anything," Madison replied. "Even a scoundrel like Sweet Pea." She didn't mention her own scandal, the missing memories and the blood soaked shirt forever ruined, now buried at the bottom of her closet, the disappointment and horror in her mother's eyes that fateful day. If Alice Cooper could go through that and still send Madison off to school each day, there really was nothing she couldn't do.

"Hey, I am every mother's dream," Sweet Pea declared, raising a fist in defiance as he narrowed his eyes at the two girls.

"Yeah, every mother's wet dream," Joaquin joked quietly, snorting at his own comment as he took the vodka back from Madison. He didn't take a drink though, clearly only taking it away from her to help her slow down. He was annoyingly responsible that way sometimes but Madison refrained from commenting, too busy giggling at his joke.

"Anyway Coops, didn't you say Betty was at that dumb dance tonight?" Toni asked, shifting to sit up, her legs slinging themselves over Madison's lap. She was always so affectionate and tactile after a few swigs of vodka, not that Madison minded in the slightest, but it was always amusing to see how long it took Toni's drunk self to throw herself onto the blonde girl.

Madison snatched the vodka back from Joaquin, taking a deliberate swig as she nodded towards Toni. "See!" she declared, wiping her mouth as a few drops spilled down her chin, a sign that she was already getting a little sloppy. "Toni listens to me!"

"What dance is this? Another pretentious Southside tradition?" Fangs Fogarty asked from his spot beside Joaquin. He'd been fairly quiet tonight, content just sitting and listening to the group bantering as he swigged from his bottle of gin. He was a newer addition to the group, having only officially joined the Serpents at the beginning of the summer but he fit right in, his disdain for the Northside only adding to his Serpent brownie points.

"Yeah, the semi-formal," Madison replied, her tone making it quite clear of her disdain for the entire event.

"Semi formal? What even is that?" Fangs asked, his brow furrowed as he leaned forward to look at Madison.

"It's a chance for Northsiders to sneak booze into school grounds to feel like they're hardcore and breaking the rules, duh. And apparently tonight it's a chance for everyone to remember the beloved and adored Jason Blossom," Madison said, rolling her eyes and holding back a snort as Toni faked vomiting beside her.

"Got it. So why aren't you there? You love breaking rules!" Sweet Pea said, winking at Madison as he tipped his drink to her.

"Because unlike my lame sister, I'd actually rather drink real vodka. None of that watered-down spiked punch nonsense," Madison declared, grinning as she lifted the bottle of vodka in her hand back up to Sweet Pea.

"God, this town is so lame," Fangs remarked, leaning his head backwards with a long suffering sigh as he toyed with the joint in his hand, apparently too bored to even take a drag on it right now as his eyes momentarily drifted closed.

"Tell me about it. You're so lucky you got out during the summer," Sweet Pea remarked, passing the joint back to Madison with a smirk.

Madison took the joint back silently, taking a deep drag as her mind flickered back to her father's warning. "I don't know…I missed the whole Blossom saga. Feels like interesting things only happen when I leave," she shot back finally, pulling a grin onto her lips as she winked back at Sweet Pea.

"Yeah but you got to go party in Greendale! I hear the parties are crazy wild over there, like a whole new level. What was it like?" Fangs asked, raising his eyebrows in curiosity at her as the rest of the group leaned in, all focus suddenly on Madison.

Madison inhaled slowly, inwardly cursing Fangs and his string of questions, pulling focus onto the one part of her summer she had no interest in revisiting. "Ah yeah…It was definitely wild," she said vaguely, doing her best to keep her mind from the truth, the gigantic blank space in her memories, the empty void that threatened to send her into a breakdown at any minute. "I barely remember half of it," she said finally. At least that sounded vaguely correct given her partying reputation and it wasn't a complete lie either.

"Ugh, I'm so jealous," Toni sighed, bumping her head back onto the tree trunk with a look of annoyance as she ran a hand through her long pink-dyed hair which looked like it needed re-dying soon. "I bet the vodka tastes better in Greendale too. None of this cheap shit we're stuck with."

"Oh yeah, I didn't even know what I was on half the time. There was so much going on there. Wild times," Madison nodded her head convincingly, desperate for anything that would change the subject but her mind was trapped now, stuck on the blank memories as she took a long helps swing of vodka just to stop herself from talking any further.

Before anyone could push for any more details that Madison couldn't provide, there was a sudden rustling in the dark, and the entire group came to a hushed halt, all staring in anxious anticipation. Madison slowly lowered the vodka bottle as she spotted Fangs and Sweet Pea both putting their joints down by their sides, almost out of sight just in case they were about to get busted

"Madison! Oh my god Madison Cooper, thank god." Kevin Keller suddenly burst through the bushes, his eyes widening as he spotted Madison amongst the group. He was definitely not who anyone was expecting and Madison stared back, momentarily stunned before she fully processed his presence.

"Kevin…" Madison drew out the name, raising an eyebrow up at him and slowly taking in the frantic wide-eyed expression sitting on his pale face. "Are you mistaking me for someone who actually likes you? My dumb sister perhaps?"

"What? No, I just…" Kevin trailed off, glancing behind himself briefly to wherever he'd come from as he caught his breath, suddenly distracted.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," Toni remarked, immediately giggling at the concept and nudging Madison who was too busy trying to focus in on Kevin's face, her vision vaguely blurred as the vodka sunk into her body, slowing down her concentration levels.

Kevin seemed unimpressed by Toni's wit, barely even glancing around at the other Serpents sitting around. His gaze was solely on Madison, probably the only familiar face to him. "Madison, do you have your phone on you?"

"Why? Need to report a crime to your daddy?" Sweet Pea remarked, his eyes narrowed and distrustful as he pushed himself up to stand, folding his arms across his chest and probably trying to look intimidating even though his stoned manner half ruined the look as he swayed slightly.

Kevin threw a vaguely withering glare towards Sweet Pea before turning back to Madison. "Maddy, do you have your phone or not?"

"Why?" Madison asked suspiciously, reaching into the pockets of her shorts to tug out her cellphone, toying with it slowly as she watched Kevin's eyes.

"Because I lost my phone at the dance and I just found a body in the river. Jason Blossom." Kevin's words cut through the air like a knife through ice, sharp and jarring.

Madison stared back at him, the world coming to an unexpected halt as she took in his words. She slowly stared around at the rest of the Serpent group, her eyes briefly taking in the way Joaquin was staring back at her, something like terror in his eyes, like he knew something she didn't.

"Yeah sure, here you go," she said finally, tossing Kevin the phone and trying to maintain an air of stoned nonchalance as she ignored the gnawing feeling of fear bubbling inside her stomach, a flash of red momentarily blurring her vision.

"Mads, you okay?" Joaquin asked Madison quietly as he leaned closer to her, one hand hovering lightly on her back.

"Yeah, I'm great," Madison said confidently, sticking her thumb up at him as she glanced back up at Kevin, his words replaying in her mind, the name floating into her line of vision. Jason Blossom. In the river. Dead.

And then she threw up.

* * *

 **A/N: Thank you for reading this fun little chapter and so sorry for the delay! Life has a bad habit of getting in the way but I'm still definitely excited about sharing this story so thanks for sticking with me! Please let me know any/all your thoughts on this little chapter and feel free to throw in any of your theories so far! Reviews definitely motivate me and make my day :) Thanks again for reading and thank you to RHatch89, UniqueLightxLove, spiralheads, Beacon-hills, allybz and MissFlowerGirl13 for all leaving such lovely reviews on the last chapter!**


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